By Gordon Wellu & Damian Avevor
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The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has honoured five eminent Ghanaians with Papal Awards for their invaluable contribution to the development of the local Church in Ghana.
They are Sir Henry Paul Nelson, who has been given the award of Knight Commander of St. Gregory the Great; Sir Professor George Hagan and Sir Benedict Assorow, the Order of St. Gregory the Great.
The rest are Mrs. Josephine Rosemond VanLare, Dame of St. Gregory the Great and Rev. Sr. Mary Ancilla Fox, SSL, Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice.
Rev. Sr. Bridget Andoh, Regional Superior of the Sisters of St. Louis, stood in for Sr. Ancilla Fox.
The Conferment of the honours, which took place at a concelebrated Mass at the Holy Spirit Cathedral in Accra last weekend, was at the request of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
The Principal celebrant at the conferral Mass was the Most Rev. Lucas Abadamloora, President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference and Bishop of Navrongo-Bolgatanga.
Concelebrating were His Eminence Peter Cardinal Appiah Turkson, Archbishop of Cape Coast, Most Rev. Charles Palmer-Buckle, Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, Most Rev. Dominic K. Andoh, Archbishop Emeritus of Accra, Most Rev. John Martin Darko, Bishop of Sekondi-Takoradi and Most Rev. Joseph Osei-Bonsu, Bishop of Konongo-Mampong.
Several Priests, including Very Rev. Msgr. Seth Osei-Agyemang, Secretary-General of the National Catholic Secretariat, Rev. Msgr. Hilary Senoo, Parish Priest of St. Cecilia, Ho-Dome and Very Rev. Fr. John Louis, Holy Spirit Cathedral Administrator, also concelebrated.
The ceremony was witnessed by several dignitaries, including the Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama and Mr. C. K. Tedam, a Member of the Council of State.
Also present were members of the Catholic Association of Media Practitioners (CAMP-G), Catholic Twins Society, Ghana Journalists Association, Staff of GBC, Holy Child Past Students Association and Sisters of St. Louis (SSL).
In a homily, Bishop Abadamloora praised the awardees for their steadfastness in projecting Christ and humanity, saying that it was in order that people who had distinguished themselves be honoured.
He recalled how the early Christians were very committed in their imitation of Christ, consoling one another even in the face of persecution.
Bishop Ababamloora challenged Christians of today to be courageous to defend the truth, lamenting that the tendency for many was to hide the truth for fear of victimisation and persecution.
The Bishops’ Conference President prayed that people would emulate the sterling qualities of the awardees so that the world would be a better place for all to live in.
Vice President Mahama noted that the ceremony epitomised the essence of the Ghanaian attitude to religious harmony.
He was happy that Christians, Muslims, Animists and other religious sects and beliefs, were coexisting peacefully, irrespective of gender, ethnic or geographical divide.
He said it was also gratifying that Ghanaians have refused to be divided at the leadership level by one’s faith, adding “religion had never been a determinant of the suitability or otherwise of political leadership.”
He urged the citizenry to continue to cherish and protect “this gift of religious harmony,” saying that “ anything that seems to threaten our peace of secularism in the name of political expediency, must be condemned with all our strength and all our heart.”
Vice President Mahama hoped the achievements of the awardees would serve as a spring board to propel others to greater heights in their service to God and humanity.
On behalf of his colleagues, Sir Prof. George said the awards have humbled and made them keenly aware how specially favoured they were.
He said whatever they had done as Catholics to merit consideration for the awards, they did nothing more than respond to the call of duty, the duty of service to “our people and the Church, the duty of faith.”
“With joy, we would like to express our gratitude to the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, who has deigned to grant us the privilege and dignity of the Knighthood and Dame of St. Gregory.
“… To His Holiness, we give our pledge of continued faithful service, filial devotion and fervent love.”
They also expressed their gratitude, loyalty and fidelity to the Papal Nuncio and Members of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference for the honour done them.
Dressed in their smart uniforms, each of the Knights, was escorted by a Senior Knight to the Altar for the award.
Sir Henry is now the Knight Commander of St. Gregory, the Second Class in the category of St. Gregory.
As the final part of the conferral rites, Bishop Abadamloora congratulated each of them, followed by all the concelebrating Bishops.
The Vice President and Mr. Tedam also congratulated the new Knights who were visibly elated.
The Order of Knighthood of Saint Gregory the Great was instituted on September 1, 1831 by Pope Gregory XVI as a sign of great reverent affection towards his predecessor, Pope (Saint) Gregory I (The Great), to confer awards of value and distinction of honour and testimonials of praise to such persons whose merit were well- known to the public and also to the Roman Pontiff.
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